


Trust

by mikkimouse



Series: Tumblr Fics [58]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Implied Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Nogitsune Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 20:39:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9842804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikkimouse/pseuds/mikkimouse
Summary: In which the pack discusses what to do about Stiles and the nogitsune.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I was going through some old fic drafts in Evernote last year when I came across this scene I wrote in February 2014, in the midst of season 3b. I think I was just writing the scene I desperately wanted to see in canon: where Scott would clash with the rest of the pack over what to do about Stiles, and he would be surprised at Derek’s vote on the issue.
> 
> Obviously this was not something we actually got in canon, and I forgot about this after it was Jossed so thoroughly. However, upon rereading, I do really like this scene, and I still kind of wish we’d gotten something like it during that season.
> 
> Originally posted to Tumblr [here](https://mad-madam-m.tumblr.com/post/130653722725/so-i-was-going-through-some-old-drafts-in).

"You're insane," Aiden said. "He's going to kill all of us!"

"We'll stop him," Scott said, even though he didn't have the faintest clue how. "But we're not killing him to do it."

Allison took a cautious step forward. "Scott, I know he's your best friend--"

Scott spun on her. "Yeah, he is! For years he was my _only_ friend. And he's saved all of us, some more than once. Or did you already forget that he was the one to stop Peter the first time? Not you, not your dad, not Kate, not even me or Derek. _Stiles_ did it."

Allison looked almost like he'd slapped her, but Scott couldn't begin to feel bad about it.

Aiden snorted. "He hasn't done anything for me."

"He kept your brother from bisecting himself with a chainsaw," Scott shot back. "Or did you ever mention that, Ethan?"

Ethan at least had the courtesy to look a little sheepish before he started arguing. "But this isn't like that. He's possessed by something _actually evil_. We're not going to be able to shake him out of it with a freaking road flare!"

Derek crossed his arms over his chest and fixed the room with one of his glares. "We're not killing him."

Scott stared at him in shock. He'd expected to have an uphill battle convincing everyone but Lydia not to kill Stiles. He sure as hell hadn't expected Derek to be the first one to back him up.

From the looks on everyone else, they were even more surprised than Scott was.

"Wait, _you_ ," Isaac pointed at Derek, "don't want to kill him? You were ready to off Lydia and Jackson at the first sign they might have been the kanima."

Derek regarded him mildly. "We're not killing Stiles," he said flatly, "and that's final."

Isaac scoffed. "Well, it's not exactly your choice. You aren't the Alpha."

"No," Scott snapped. "I am. And I already said we're not killing him. So yeah. It _is_ final."

He crossed his arms and fixed the room with a glare of his own. It wasn't as strong as Derek's, probably, but it would get the job done.

"If you don't want to help save him, that's fine. I understand," Scott said. "But if you try to hurt him, I will make sure you regret it."

Nobody said anything for the longest moment, and then Lydia stood up and strode across the room to stand right in front of him. "Anything you need," she said. "I don't care what it is, I don't care where it is, I don't care what time it is. I'll do it. I'll help. Just call me."

Scott felt a little piece of worry break off, and he lost his Alpha glare to give Lydia a relieved smile. "Thanks, Lydia."

She smiled back a little, but it was harder, almost like she was thinking of all the ways to dismember a demon. "I owe him."

With that, she swung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of Derek's loft.

With a pang, he wished Stiles could be there to hear Lydia Martin say "I owe him." Even though Scott was reasonably sure Stiles's crush had mellowed some over the course of the past year, he'd probably still stand there gaping like a fish to hear it.

Allison sighed and folded her arms over her chest. " _Nous protegeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se proteger eux-meme._ " She gave Scott half a smile. "Right now Stiles can't protect himself. So we have to do it for him. Let me know what you need."

Scott sighed. "Thanks, Allison."

Allison nodded and threaded her hand in Isaac's, who shrugged and shook his head with a laugh. "I still think you're a little crazy," he said, "but then, when has that ever stopped us? I'm in."

Then he let Allison tug him back toward the door.

That just left the twins. Aiden glowered and shook his head. "It's an evil fox demon. And you're just going to let it run loose until you can figure out how to stop it?"

Before Scott could answer, Ethan spoke up. "I'll help."

Aiden stared at his brother as though he'd suddenly grown two extra heads. "What? You can't be serious."

"I am serious," Ethan said, "because if it were you, I'd do whatever it took to bring you back."

Scott felt like someone had punched him, could hear Stiles's voice in his head as clear as if he were standing in the room.

_You're my best friend. Scott, you're my brother._

He tried not to think about that night, tried not to think about how the despair had sucked him in like a void. But whenever it popped up, he forced himself to remember Stiles's words, the way he wouldn't leave Scott alone. He'd been terrified--Scott had heard it in his heartbeat--but that hadn't stopped him.

Now it was time for Scott to return the favor.

"Good," Derek said. "Now get out. And don't forget you owe me two hundred dollars for the cleaning bill."

Aiden and Ethan looked like they might argue, but Scott flashed his eyes at them. He _really_ wasn't in the mood.

They both practically scurried out the door.

As soon as they were alone, Derek dropped his posturing and went into the kitchen. Scott was pretty sure he should leave, but not just yet. He followed Derek instead.

Derek grabbed a cup off the shelf. "Water?" he asked without looking back.

"Yeah," Scott said. "Thanks."

Derek got another cup, filled both, and handed one off to Scott. Scott took the cup, but didn't drink just yet. He had to ask the question burning at the tip of his tongue. "Why?"

Derek raised his eyebrows in a way that Scott was pretty sure meant "Why what?"

He sighed and set the cup down. "Don't look at me like that. You were ready to kill Lydia as soon as you thought she was the kanima. And then it was the same thing with Jackson as soon as you realized he _was_ the kanima. Because they were dangerous, because it was for the greater good, all that stuff." Scott waved his hand. "Why is Stiles different?"

Derek took a long drink of water before he set his own cup down. "You remember that night we were trapped in the pool?"

Yeah, Scott remembered. He'd only barely gotten there in time. "He said you guys had been in there something like two hours."

Derek nodded. "For two hours, I was paralyzed from the neck down in eight feet of water. For two hours, Stiles held me up. And I spent two hours waiting for him to leave me to drown."

Scott held his breath. He'd never heard Derek talk about that night, and Stiles had only mentioned it once, with a joke and a smile, trying to laugh it off.

Derek continued, his eyes fixed on the scarred countertop. "He said he was going for his phone, to try and call you. He asked me to trust him. I told him I didn't--that we didn't trust each other. And then he let go and swam for it." His fingers curled against the edge of the counter. "I thought I was dead. Just when I couldn't hold my breath any longer, he grabbed me and hauled me back to the surface. He came back for me. He's always come back for me." Derek raised his eyes, and finished quietly, "Laura was the last person to do that."

Scott didn't know what to say. He'd never seen Derek look like this; he'd never heard Derek _sound_ like this.

"I owe him, probably even more than Lydia does," Derek said. "But..."

"It's more than that," Scott finished, when Derek didn't make an effort to.

"I trust him," Derek said. "And I don't...I can't trust easily."

Scott had a feeling there was more Derek wasn't saying, but he didn't want to push it. Especially since he knew he was responsible for at least some of Derek's trust issues.

"I don't want to lose another person I...trust," Derek said softly, dropping his gaze back to the table.

Boy, did Scott know that feeling. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll figure something out. Stiles wouldn't give up on us, and I'm sure as hell not giving up on him."

Derek didn't smile--Scott was beginning to think the only person who ever got a smile out of Derek was Stiles--but the drawn look on his face softened somewhat. "I'm not as good at research, but I've got some books. I'll see what I can find." He gestured at the door. "You're going to be late for work."

Scott grabbed his bag. "Yeah. I need to ask Deaton about this, too." He hesitated, and then added, "Thanks for backing me up. With the not killing."

Derek shrugged. "Any time."

Scott was climbing onto his bike when it dawned on him why Derek had paused before saying "trust." 

Oh. _Oh._

Well. That was going to complicate things when they got Stiles back.


End file.
